Conveyer-apron



G IVI. DYE.

CONVEYER APRON.

APPLICATION FILED 0m12.191s.

Patented July l2, 1921..

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

G NI'. DYE.

CONVEYER APRON.

APPLICATION FILED 0m12.191s.

Patented July l2, 19211.

2 SHEETS-'SHEET 2-` GLEN M. DYE,

PHOTGRAPHC AFFILI- NCES CORPORATION, OF MNNEAEGLS, I-Jrl'lTESOTA, A COREEL'EEON OE Mhh NESUTA.

CONVEYER-APRN.

Application filed Getoher 12, 1918.

fo (all '1U/lam t 'may concer/a.'

Be it lrnown that l, GLEN Birra, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Conveyorriprons; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to ing drum heated to the desired temperature.

lit)

Certain of these guide rollers hold a section of the apron to afford a moving feed table, on which wet photographs are placed and carried onto the periphery of the drum, the diameter of which is sufficiently large to thoroughly dry the photograph, while mak-- ing substantially one complete rotation.

Just before the drum has made one complete rotation, the apron is directed therefrom by certain of the guide rollers to allow the dried photographs to be released from between the drum and apron and discharged into a receiving tray provided therefor.

It is highly important that the conveying apron for such a machine has a smooth contacting surface with the drum, and which surface must be without wrinkles, creases or pockets, in order that the photographs may be pressed flat against the drum throughout their entire surfaces. lt is also highly important to guide such an apron, so that the same will not drift. The apron must also be made of a material that will evenly absorb moisture from the wet prints placed thereon to facilitate the drying thereof and, in turn, the apron must be of a texture that will freely release the absorbed moisture, in order that the apron may stay in a substantially dry condition.

in apron formed of duck or other similar material has been found best suited for use in connection with photographic drying Speeication of Letters Patent.

Patented July l2, 192i.

Serial No. 257,850.

machines, but such an apron is not entirely satisfactory, for the reason that, in guiding the saine to prevent drifting, the apron is liable to transversely sag and form pockets, creases and wrinkles, and these uneven surfaces in the apron will either spoil or mar the photograph coming in contact therewith.

To overcome this diiiiculty, which is the subject matter of my present invention, provide an endless apron of duclr or other suitable material, and secure thereto a backing that is relatively stiff transversely of the apron, to permit the same to be guided to overcome drifting, and it is relatively pliable longitudinally of the apron, to permit the apron to freely pass over guido rollers. backing, Well suited for this purpose and least expensive7 is commercial woven fiber matting, such as grass matting, of the desired width, laid upon the inner face of the apron, with the Tvoof 'threads eX- tending transversely thereof and with the `warp threads extending longitudinally thereof. The longitudinal ec ges of the apron are then folded upon the corresponding edges of the matting and the two stitched together.

To the above end, generally stated, the invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved apron in diagram;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the connected ends of the apron, on an enlarged scale; i

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. a is a transverse section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

The invention includes an endless conveyer apron, of duck or other suitable material, having a backing 7. As shown, the backing 7 is formed of commercial woven fiber matting laid upon the under face of the apron 6 with the Woof threads thereof extending transversely of the apron and With the warp threads thereof extending longitudinally of the apron, said woef and warp threads being indicated by the numerals S and 9, respectively. lis is well known, the woef threads of fiber matting are formed of a multiplicity of fibers or blades of grass laid one upon the other to form a relatively heavy twine. This twine or'woof thread is sutheiently pliable to permit the warp threads to draw into the same, during the weaving thereof, so that said warp threads do not extend outward thereof, thus leaving the faces of the matting relatively smooth.

By reference to Fig. 3, it willY be noted that the apron 6 is somewhat wider than the backing to permit the longitudinal edges thereof to'be folded under the corresponding edges 0f the backing land secured thereto by stitches l0. T he apron and backing are each formed of a singlev piece of fabric and the apron is somewhat longer than the backing to enable the ends thereof to be folded under the corresponding ends of the backing and secured thereto by the stitches l0 and a plurality of rows'of transverse stitches 11. The backing 7 isk further secured to the apron 6 by aplurality of longitudinalrrows of stitches 12. rlhe two folded ends of the apron are extended slightly beyond the respective ends ofthe -baclingitofafford arpair of flaps 13, through which a lacing 14 is passed to connect the two ends of the apron. Y

`From the above description, it is evident that the relatively stiff woof threads permit theV apronfto be easily guided Vto prevent drift and, at the Sametime, transversely hold' the 'apron 6 smooth without sags,

creases or wrinkles, while the relatively pli-V able warp threads permit the apron to freely pass over guide rollers. lt is also evident that the moisture absorbed from the wet prints by the apron will be readily taken up by the fibrous backing and, owing to its relatively eoarse and loose texture, will freely give off the absorbed moisture under the action of the air and the heat from the drum during the travel of the apron, thus keeping the same in substantially a dry condition. While the texture of the backing is sufficiently' loose to permit Vthe free escape of moisture, it is evenly woven so that there are no openings therein which would cause the prints to dry unevenly, thus making the same defective. Inactual usage, the above described invention has proven highly ethcient for the purpose had in View. y

That -elaim is A drying conveyer apron comprising` a facing and a'backing,V said facing being a fabric that will readily absorb moisture, and said backing being made up of `vegetable liber ystems laid in close parallel arrangement transversely ofthe apron lsofas toV stiften Asaid lapron transversely, and warpV threads connecting said liber stems and extended longitudinally of the aprons@ as to give the vapron great flexibility in that direc! tion, the' said facingand backing being connected so that they act as asingle unit;

ln testimony whereofl afliX my signature in presence oftwo witnesses.'

` GLEN VM. DYE. Witnesses:

CLARAV DnMAREs'r, Y IIL/nmz D. KILGORE. 

